• Isi Schwingen
  • Jake Searle
  • Isi Schwingen
  • Jake Searle

Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

New Zealand Läs mer
  • Route 52

    7 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    From Hastings we took a more scenic and rural route instead of driving along the highway down towards Masterton.
    Our first stops were Mangakuri Beach and Blackhead Beach (Te Angiangi Marine Reserve) where we saw quite a few Oystercatchers. Afterwards we stopped at the place with the longest name in the world: Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu. It's a hill and it means something like this: The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his flute to his loved one.
    The last picture is quite a common scence for NZ roads. We had to drive through all those sheep 🐑
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  • Putangirua Pinnacles

    9 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    We revisited the Putangirua Pinnacles because it's such a cool place and we had a day to spare before heading back to Wellington.
    The last post of the pinnacles was focused on LOTR so this time there's some geological information:
    The Putangirua Pinnacles consist of a large number of earth pillars located in the Aorangi Ranges. About 8 million years ago these ranges were an island. As this landmass was eroded over time, large alluvial fans (triangle-shaped deposits of gravel, sand and smaller pieces of sediment) were formed. Within a few million years the island was yet again submerged by water. Since the ice ages the old alluvial fans have been exposed to the erosive forces of wind and water which have weathered away the conglomerate. In some places this conglomerate is protected from erosion by a cap of cemented silt or rock. This has resulted in the formation of spectacular pinnacles.
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  • Wellington Weekend Visit

    12 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    As our ferry to the South Island was booked for Monday we decided to stop over in Wellington for the weekend. We stayed with our friends Hannah and Max at their place on Cuba Street. On Friday we went to the Southern Cross to have 2 for 1 cocktails and hung out with Isi's work friends. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. On Saturday we went to Oriental Bay and climbed outside with Max and Mattia. The first picture is also from Oriental Bay. The Pohutukawa tree is known as the NZ Christmas tree as it blooms red and green around Christmas time. In the evening we made Pizza with our friends Hannah, Max, Stephen, Mattia and Frank. On Sunday we went bouldering in Lower Hutt with Mattia, Frank and Liam and then had ice cream at with Hannah and Max. It was a great weekend! We're sad to leave again 😢Läs mer

  • Kaikoura South Bay

    15 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    After spending the night in Blenheim we drove towards Kaikoura. On the way we stopped at Ohau Point to watch the seals. Can you spot them in the first picture?!
    In Kaikoura we chilled on the beach for a bit and then headed to South Bay for lunch and a walk on the rocks.Läs mer

  • Lupin Fields

    16 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    The flowering season of Lupins is from November to January and the most common place to find them is within the Mackenzie Basin. This includes Lake Tekapo where we took these pictures. They flower in all sorts of different colours like purple, pink, blue, white and yellow. You can smell them while you're driving past 🌺Läs mer

  • Lake Pukaki

    16 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Last time we were on the South Island we drove past this spot twice and both times it was too foggy to see anything at all. So it was really nice to get a good view of Lake Pukaki this time round. Right in the back you can get a glimpse of Mount Cook (Aoraki).Läs mer

  • Crown Range Road

    18 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The Crown Range Road in the Cardrona Valley is the highest paved highway in NZ. It connects Wanaka and Queenstown and reaches an altitude of 1121 metres.
    Our first stop was the famous bra fence. In 1999 four bras mysteriously appeared overnight on a fence along the road. After that people just kept adding more and more bras to the fence. In 2015 the fence was rebranded to "Bradrona" to raise money for breast cancer.
    The next stop was at the Cardrona Hotel which was built in 1863 and is one of NZ's oldest hotels. It's one of only two remaining buildings from the Cardrona Valley gold rush era and it serves very nice coffee.
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  • Isi's Birthday

    19 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    On the 18th of December we arrived at our wwoofing place. We're staying just outside of Arrowtown with Jörg who is originally from Karlsruhe, his two daughters Anna and Lina and Aya and Nori from Japan who also work here. Jörg owns a distillery, Broken Heart Spirits, where he makes all sorts of spirits but mostly gin. We're helping in the distillery and doing some jobs around the house in return for food and accommodation. So far we really like it here!

    For Isi's birthday we went into Arrowtown to have ice cream. For dinner we put skewers on the barbecue and Jake made roast potatoes. We were so full afterwards we had to eat the birthday cake on the next day. There was room for gin though 🍸
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  • Christmas Swim

    25 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    The weather on Christmas day was really nice and sunny so we decided to go for a Christmas swim. We went to Kelvin Heights in Queenstown and swam in Lake Wakatipu. It was quite cold but really nice nonetheless. The mountain range you can see in the background of our picture are the Remarkables.Läs mer

  • Christmas Day

    25 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Merry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄🌟

    We spent Christmas with our wwoofing family. Jörg, his girlfriend Nadine and his friend Phil, Anna and her boyfriend Carlos, Aya, Nori and the neighbours Tony and Fleur were here for dinner. We had turkey that was prepared on the bbq, roast potatoes and vegetables. Isi made Plätzchen (Christmas cookies) which we had for dessert.Läs mer

  • Glenorchy

    26 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    We went to the Glenorchy area for a day trip. The drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy was beautiful with many amazing views. Just a bit after Glenorchy is Paradise. We stopped here to admire the scenery as some scences of Lord of the Rings (Isengard and Lothlórien) were filmed around that area. Afterwards we went back to Glenorchy to do the Lagoon Walkway.Läs mer

  • Ben Lomond

    27 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    The Ben Lomond Track in Queenstown is up there with one of the nicest day hikes that we have done so far. The mountain stands at 1748 m above sea level and was a 16 km return from the town centre. We started with the Tiki Trail which winds it's way up next to the Skyline Gondola. The way then heads towards Ben Lomond Saddle and from there it's a very steep 1.5 km hike to the summit. Once we arrived on top we were rewarded with stunning views over Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains. We even saw a Kea (mountain parrot) at the top 🐦Läs mer

  • Wye Creek

    28 december 2020, Nya Zeeland ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We went climbing in Wye Creek. The way to the crag was quite a bit longer than we expected but once we saw the rock and the views we knew it was worth it. On the way there we met two other climbers, Johann and Meike. Johann knew the crag quite well so it was really nice of him to show us around and tell us about some good climbs. We had a lot of fun and climbed one of the nicest routes we have done in NZ so far 🧗🏼‍♀️🧗🏼Läs mer

  • Moke Lake

    3 januari 2021, Nya Zeeland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    The first days of the new year were rather rainy and wet but on the third we decided to go for a walk anyway. We went to Moke Lake just outside Queenstown and walked the Lake Circuit. It was a nice walk and lake and mountains looked really cool in the mist.Läs mer